Information recording device and information reproducing device

ABSTRACT

The information reproduction device for reproducing the contents information based on the license information added to the contents information and required for reproducing the contents information, includes a determining section for determining whether the encrypted contents information is the officially copied contents information or privately copied contents information based on the contents of the license information, and a reproduction section configured to reproduce the contents information determined as the privately copied contents information by the determining section under more severer restrictions than the officially copied contents information. Thus, the contents copied by the proper route (officially copied contents) can be distributed in a more advantageous form than the contents copied without proper authorization.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priorityfrom the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 11-058890, filed Mar. 5,1999, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to devices for recording andreproducing the contents, including images, voice data and the like.

[0003] The digital contents reproduction devices including a CD playerare popularly accepted because of clear tone quality and lessdegradation of tone quality caused by long-term use. However, it hasbecome possible to copy digital contents free of degradation byfaithfully duplicating it bit by bit, and in actuality such devices havealready been commercialized. The presence of such copying device is agreat advantage to the contents user, but for the contents provider, itis not desirable because such device exerts tremendous influence on thesales of contents.

[0004] Consequently, the contents provider copes with new digitaldevices (and media) when they are commercialized by not providing themwith the contents. However, this condition causes big interference topopularization of new electronic devices, and prevents not only almostall people from enjoying the convenience but also contents providersfrom enjoying business chances.

[0005] On the other hand, the privately copied contents for the user toenjoy the contents personally is the right authorized by the CopyrightLaw, and in actuality, for many electronic devices, the privately copiedcontents has been admitted with some restriction to the duplicationsystem (restriction to the analog recording, etc.). However, whendigital recording becomes the mainstream in years to come, it becomesdifficult to determines the privately copied contents from officiallycopied contents, and at the same time, it becomes difficult to determinewhether the copy is the privately copied contents or the authorizedcopied contents.

[0006] By the way, in this invention, the privately copied contentsmeans the copy for local use and carried out by the person who has nodealership of the relevant source (digital contents), while theofficially copied contents means the copy for global use and carried outby the person who has the dealership to the relevant source. That is,the officially copied contents are only able to be acquired by the meansequivalent to the conventional contents sales, which include the salesfrom an electronic shopping mall on the Internet.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to providean information reproduction device, an information recording device, andinformation selling device, and an information purchasing device, and anautomatic information vending machine, which can increase demands forofficially copied contents on the official market and build up theinformation distribution mechanism suited for interest of the contentsprovider, contents user, and electronic device manufacturer by changingover the reproduction system of the relevant contents by determiningwhether the contents are the officially copied contents or privatelycopied contents, and permitting more advantageous utilization form forthe officially copied contents than for the privately copied contents.

[0008] According to the present invention, in order to solve theabove-mentioned problems, by controlling the use of contents by licenseinformation corresponding to the contents and at the same time, pastinga digital signature to the license information corresponding to theencrypted contents, which is the officially copied contents, with asecret key of an public key cryptosystem which the contents sellingserver only knows, the officially copied contents and privately copiedcontents are determined by the presence of the digital signature, andthe reproduction system of the contents are varied based on the judgmentresults.

[0009] The information reproduction device according to the presentinvention reproduces the contents information based on the licenseinformation required for reproducing the contents information added tothe contents information and comprises a determining section configuredto determine whether the encrypted contents information is officiallycopied contents information or privately copied contents information anda reproduction section for reproducing the contents informationdetermined as the privately copied contents information withrestrictions much severer than for the officially copied contentsinformation.

[0010] It may be determined whether the contents are the officiallycopied contents information or privately copied contents informationbased on the verification information for verifying the officiallycopied contents contained in the license information.

[0011] The utilization condition of the contents information containedin the license information is more restricted for the privately copiedcontents information than for the officially copied contentsinformation.

[0012] The license information added to the contents information may beencrypted or decrypted by the key information prepared based on theinformation dependent on the identifier of the recording medium in whichthe contents information is recorded.

[0013] The judging section may determine whether the contentsinformation is the original contents pursuant to the contents of thelicense information, and if it is determined to be the original contentsinformation, the second reproduction section for reproducing thecontents information without restriction may be further included.

[0014] According to the information reproduction device of the presentinvention, a structural difference is provided in the reproductionsystem of privately copied contents as well as officially copiedcontents and original contents, and expansion of the personal use isprevented with privately copied contents admitted, thereby protectingthe copyright and contents providers. In addition, if the contents areunjustly transferred to a separate recording medium, that is, copied,since the license information is dependent on the recording medium, thelicense information is unable to be decrypted from the illegal copyingmedium, and as a result, the contents are unable to be decrypted.Therefore, whether it is privately copied contents or officially copiedcontents, the license information mast be remade for the copy, andbecause it is the just recording device that can do it (for example,that knows the function “f”), restriction to number of copies isaccurately carried out, and unjust use of the contents are able to beprevented.

[0015] A first information recording device according to the presentinvention is an information recording device for recording the contentsinformation (may be encrypted and may not be encrypted) and the licenseinformation (may include a decrypting key for the encrypted contentsinformation) required for reproducing the contents information and addedto the contents information, the information recording device comprisinga determining section for determining the type of input contentsinformation, a generating section for generating the license informationbased on the type determined by the determining section, the informationdependent on the identifier of the recording medium, and a recordingsection for recording the contents information to the recording mediumtogether with the license information generated by the creation section.The license generating section may generate the license informationbased on the utilization condition of contents information in additionto the type determined by the determining section and the informationdependent on the identifier of recording medium.

[0016] The contents information to be input may be restricted to analogsignals.

[0017] According to the first information recording device according tothe present invention, discriminating the type of contents and providingthe environment in which duplication is allowed only by the severerrestrictions than the source contents differentiate the privately copiedcontents from the officially copied contents put on the official marketand relatively increase the value of the officially copied contents,thereby contributing to the expansion of market of officially copiedcontents. In addition, when the contents are unjustly transferred toanother media, that is, copied, since the license information isdependent on the media, for example, the license information is unableto be decrypted and as a result, the contents are unable to bedecrypted, and the license information must be re-generated for copyingwhether it is privately copied contents or officially copied contents,and this is only achieved by a proper recording device (for example,that knows the function “f”), and the number of copy times is able to bedefinitely restricted, and therefore, the unjust use is able to beprevented. Furthermore, restricting the recorded source contents toanalog contents only can cause quality degradation of the contents everytime duplication is made when the digital contents are recorded, andthis could serve as the deterrent of duplication and at the same timerelatively increase the value of officially copied contents, and therebythe sales market of the officially copied contents are able to besecured more definitely.

[0018] A second information recording device according to the presentinvention is an information recording device for recording contentsinformation and license information added to the contents informationand required for reproducing the contents information in a recordingmedium, comprising a generating section for generating the licenseinformation including verifying information for verifying that thelicense information is the officially copied contents based on theinformation dependent on the identifier of the recording medium and theutilization condition of the contents information, and a recordingsection for recording the contents information as well as the licenseinformation generated by the generating section to the recording medium.

[0019] The second information recording device is able to be used forthe contents selling device and contents purchasing device for sellingand purchasing the officially copied contents. For the licenseinformation, since the license information dependent on the recordingmedium is generated, whether it is the privately copied contents orofficially copied contents, the license information must be re-generatedfor the copy, and the device allowed to do this is only the properrecording device (for example, that can know the function “f”), and thenumber of copies is able to be definitely restricted, and thereby unjustuse is able to be prevented.

[0020] Additional objects and advantages of the present invention willbe set forth in the description which follows, and in part will beobvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of thepresent invention.

[0021] The objects and advantages of the present invention may berealized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinationsparticularly pointed out hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

[0022] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in andconstitute a part of the specification, illustrate presently preferredembodiments of the present invention and, together with the generaldescription given above and the detailed description of the preferredembodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the presentinvention in which:

[0023]FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one example of data configuration ofdigital license information;

[0024]FIG. 2 is a diagram showing one example of data configuration ofencrypted digital license;

[0025]FIG. 3 is a diagram showing one example of data configuration oflicense header contained in the digital license information;

[0026]FIG. 4 is a diagram showing one example of data configuration ofcontents utilization condition contained in the digital licenseinformation;

[0027]FIG. 5 is a diagram showing one example of data configuration ofthe analog license information;

[0028]FIG. 6 is a diagram showing one example of data configuration ofdigital signature;

[0029]FIG. 7 is a diagram showing one example of data configuration ofthe digital signature header contained in the digital signature;

[0030]FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration example of contentsreproduction device of the first embodiment according to the presentinvention;

[0031]FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration example of theoriginal contents reproduction section of FIG. 8;

[0032]FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration example of privatelycopied contents reproduction section of FIG. 8;

[0033]FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration example of officiallycopied contents reproduction section;

[0034]FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation ofthe contents reproduction device of FIG. 8;

[0035]FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining the reproduction processingoperation of the original contents;

[0036]FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining the privately copiedcontents reproduction processing operation;

[0037]FIG. 15 is a flowchart for explaining the officially copiedcontents reproduction processing operations;

[0038]FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a configuration example of encryptedcontents decrypting section included in the officially copied contentsreproduction section of FIG. 11;

[0039]FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a configuration example of encryptedlicense decrypting section included in the encrypted contents decryptingsection of FIG. 16;

[0040]FIG. 18 is a flowchart for explaining the encrypted contentsdecrypting processing operation;

[0041]FIG. 19 is a flowchart for explaining the encrypted licensedecrypting processing operation;

[0042]FIG. 20 is a diagram showing other example of encrypted digitallicense information, where the digital signature is not externallyadded;

[0043]FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a configuration example of thecontents recording device of the second embodiment according to thepresent invention;

[0044]FIG. 22 is a diagram showing the configuration example ofprivately copied contents generating section of FIG. 21;

[0045]FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a configuration example of theoriginal contents generating section of FIG. 21;

[0046]FIG. 24 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation ofthe contents recording device of FIG. 21;

[0047]FIG. 25 is a flowchart for explaining the privately copiedcontents generating processing operation;

[0048]FIG. 26 is a flowchart for explaining the privately copiedcontents generating processing operation;

[0049]FIG. 27 is a flowchart for explaining the original contentsgenerating processing operation;

[0050]FIG. 28 is a flowchart for explaining the original contentsgenerating processing operation;

[0051]FIG. 29 is a flowchart for explaining the original contentsgenerating processing operation;

[0052]FIG. 30 is a diagram showing one example of data configuration ofcopied form information;

[0053]FIG. 31 is a diagram showing one example of data configuration ofutilization condition information in the copied form information of FIG.30;

[0054]FIG. 32 shows a configuration example of the contents recordingdevice of the sixth embodiment according to the present invention, wherethe source contents are restricted to analog contends only;

[0055]FIG. 33 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation ofthe contents recording device of FIG. 32;

[0056]FIG. 34 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation ofthe contents recording device of FIG. 32;

[0057]FIG. 35 is a diagram showing a configuration example of thecontents selling device of the seventh embodiment according to thepresent invention;

[0058]FIG. 36 is a diagram showing a configuration example of thelicense generating section of the contents selling device of FIG. 35;

[0059]FIG. 37 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation ofthe contents selling device of FIG. 35;

[0060]FIG. 38 is a flowchart for explaining the license generatingprocessing operation;

[0061]FIG. 39 is a diagram showing one example of data configuration ofpurchase requesting information;

[0062]FIG. 40 is a diagram showing a configuration example of thecontents purchasing device;

[0063]FIG. 41 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation ofthe contents purchasing device; and

[0064]FIG. 42 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation ofthe contents purchasing device of FIG. 40.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0065] A preferred embodiment of an information recording/reproductiondevice according to the present invention will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings.

[0066] First Embodiment

[0067] First, the terms used in the following description will bedefined.

[0068] License information falls into two broad general categories: oneto be embedded in the contents information itself and the externalinformation related to the contents information as additionalinformation. The former is achieved in the analog layer by an electronicwater-mark technique, and is called the analog license information inthis case. The latter is achieved in a digital layer and thereforecalled the digital license information. Furthermore, the two are jointlycalled the license information.

[0069] Contents can be classified into four kinds as shown in the tablebelow: legacy contents, plain contents, or analog contents (hereinaftercalled the analog contents), original contents, officially copiedcontents for global use, and privately copied contents for local use.TABLE 1 Medium- Kind Signature Compression Encryption dependencyOfficially Yes Yes Yes Yes Copied Contents Privately No Yes No YesCopied Contents Original No Yes No No Contents Plain No No No NoContents

[0070] The original contents information is either the contentsinformation of one's own work or the copy-free contents information withno specific restriction to use. Consequently, the original contentsinformation is compressed but not encrypted, not medium-dependent(prevents free copy to other medium), free of digital signature, andwith the addition of the digital license information with the licenseheader only later discussed.

[0071] The officially copied contents information means the contentsinformation encrypted by the person who possesses the selling right ofthe contents information. The officially copied contents information hasnot only the contents information compressed and encrypted but also hasthe addition of the digital license information with the digitalsignature that certifies the sales right. It is medium-dependent and isunable to be freely copied to other medium.

[0072] The privately copied contents information means the contentsinformation copied by the person who has no selling right of thecontents information. The privately copied contents information has thecontents information compressed and encrypted as well as has theaddition of digital license information only with the license headerfree of digital signature.

[0073] Next discussion will be made on the specific construction of thedigital license information. The digital license information Locomprises the license header (LH), contents key (Kc), contentsutilization condition (U), certificator MAC, and digital signature.

[0074] The license header is data of fixed length comprising the lengthof license information shown in FIG. 3, contents identifier (ID), copyinformation, and contents key length. The length of license informationshows the total length of the license information and is utilized whenlicense is extracted. The copy information is the information fordetermining whether the contents information is original contentsinformation, officially copied contents information, or privately copiedcontents information. The length of the contents key shows the length ofcontents key contained in the license information.

[0075] The contents utilization condition U in the digital licenseinformation shows the utilization condition of the contents informationcorresponding to the digital license information, and has theconfiguration shown in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, the digital output flag Fe,when “1,” permits the digital output of the contents information anddoes not permit when “0.” The effective date information shows theeffective date of the contents information. Similarly, the effectivenumber of times shows the number of times in which the contentsinformation is utilized. These are all data of fixed length specified bythe system.

[0076] By the way, the digital license information shown in thisspecification is only an example, and are varied in various ways inaccordance with application forms.

[0077] The certificator is the data for determining whether or not thecontents key and contents utilization condition contained in the digitallicense information is correct, and has effects of error detection andtamper-proof.

[0078] The digital signature comprises a digital signature header anddigital signature as shown in FIG. 6. The digital signature headercomprises the total length (bit length) of the digital signature and thekind of the digital signature and the signature verification key No. asshown in FIG. 7.

[0079] Because the digital license information Lo contains the contentskey Kc, it must be encrypted. However, on the other hand, encrypting allthe digital license information gives rise to the need of decryptingonly for acquiring the copy information or the need of encrypting thosewhich originally do not need encryption such as the original contentsinformation. To avoid this, in the present embodiment, a configurationthat limits the scope of encryption only to the contents key, contentsutilization condition, and certificator as shown in FIG. 2.

[0080] Hereinafter, the data in which the information I is encrypted bykey K is expressed with I[K] or [K]I. For encrypting the digital licenseinformation and the contents information, the use of common keyencryption is premised. The common key encryption is an encryptiontechnology in which the encryption key and decryption key coincide. Inthe following embodiment, there are descriptions to encrypt with adecryption key or to decrypt with an encryption key depending on thecontext, but this does not contradict because of the foregoing reasons.

[0081] The encrypted digital license information has the structure asshown in FIG. 2 and the part excluding the license header and thedigital signature is encrypted by the license key later described indetail.

[0082] Next description will be made on the analog license information.The analog license information is embedded in the contents informationitself as the electronic water-mark, and since it is embedded in thereproduced plain contents information, it is still effective even if thecopyright protection of the contents by encryption is broken. However,on the other hand, since the information is embedded in the contentsinformation itself, it has a defect to take time for embedding.

[0083] Therefore, in the present embodiment, for the analog licenseinformation, the structure as shown in FIG. 5 is considered. That is,the analog license information La comprises the copy time restrictioninformation and copy information, and the copy time restrictioninformation indicates the upper limit value of the number of copies (norestriction included) of the contents information, and the copyinformation is the information same as the copy information contained inthe license header LH of FIG. 3.

[0084] Hereinafter, as the first embodiment of the present invention, acontents reproduction device that determines whether the input digitalcontents information is at least officially copied contents informationor privately copied contents information, and even original contentsinformation according to circumstances based on the encrypted digitallicense information and varies the reproduction system of the contentsbased on the determination results.

[0085] The overall configuration diagram of the contents reproductiondevice of the first embodiment according to the present invention isshown in FIG. 8 and the flow of processing is shown in the flowchart ofFIG. 12. Referring now to the flowchart of FIG. 12, the contentsreproduction device of FIG. 8 is described. For the contentsinformation, the digital contents information (encrypted contentsinformation (Kc[C]) or not encrypted contents information C) is inputtogether with the encrypted digital license information L.

[0086] First of all, by the reproduction instruction from thereproduction interface (IF) section 3, contents information Kc[C] andencrypted digital license information L are input in the contents inputsection 2 (step S1). These pieces of information is sent to the wholecontrol section 1, and referring here to the license header of theencrypted digital license information, whether the contents informationis the original contents information or privately copied contentsinformation, or officially copied contents information is determined(steps S2 to step S4). Based on the determination results, reproductionprocessing of the original contents information, reproduction processingof the privately copied contents information, and reproductionprocessing of the officially copied contents information is carried out(steps S6 to steps S8).

[0087] Because those which do not correspond to these three kinds ofcontents are contents which are unable to be interpreted in the contentsreproduction device according to the present invention, an error outputis generated, and processing is ended (step S5).

[0088] The reproduction processing for each contents information basedon the three kinds is carried out in relevant reproduction sections 4,5, and 6 of FIG. 8. These specific configuration and the flow ofprocessing will be later described, but it is important to achieve aconfiguration in which the contents information is allowed to flow fromthe officially copied contents reproduction section 5 to both analogoutput section 8 and digital output section 7, but not allowed to flowfrom the privately copied contents reproduction section 4 to the analogoutput section 8 only. The analog output section 8 is defined to be ofrelatively low quality and to output under the non-compressed state, andto include not only analog signal outputs but also low-bit-rate digitalsignal output. The digital output section 7 is defined to be ofrelatively high quality and to output under the compressed state, andnot to include analog signal output. That is, the privately copiedcontents information is allowed to be reproduced only for the purpose oflocal use, and with respect to the secondary utilization such as cuttingand pasting part of the contents information, there is a highpossibility for the user to deviate from the scope of the personal useand the contents provider is unable to permit. In the present invention,in view of this point, structural differences are provided for themethod of reproducing the privately copied contents information andofficially copied contents information, or original contentsinformation, and by preventing expansion of the use of privately copiedcontents information while admitting the recording of the privatelycopied contents information, the copyright and the contents provider areprotected.

[0089] The configuration diagram of the original contents reproductionsection 6 of FIG. 8 is shown in FIG. 9, and the flow of the processingin FIG. 13. The original contents information is the non-encryptedcontents information as described above, and is also referred to as theplain contents information. With respect to the license information, inthe present embodiment, the digital license information comprises alicense header only, and with respect to the analog license information,an unrestricted number of copies is set.

[0090] Referring now to the flowchart of FIG. 13, the reproductionsection 6 of the original contents information of FIG. 9 is described.

[0091] The original contents information C is input in the contentsinput section 6 c (step S21), the compression system such as MPEG, etc.is depressed or decompressed at the data decompressing section 6 f (stepS22), and the digital contents information C outputted as a result isconverted from the digital signal to the analog signal (D/A conversion)at the D/A converting section 6 g (step S23). And if the analog licenseinformation La embedded in the contents information is detected at theanalog license information detecting section 6 d (step S24), the controlsection 6 a determines whether the contents information is the originalcontents information or not by referring to the copy information therein(step S25). If it is not the original contents information, the error isoutputted and processing is ended at the moment (step S29). If it is theoriginal contents information, the control section 6 a determineswhether the digital output instruction is provided or not. If thedigital output instruction is provided (step S26), the digital signal Cdis outputted via the digital output section 6 e (step S30), andotherwise, the digital contents information C is converted from thedigital signal to the analog signal Ca at the D/A converting section 6 gand outputted via the analog output section 6 h (steps S27-S28).

[0092]FIG. 10 shows the configuration diagram of the privately copiedcontents reproduction section 4 of FIG. 8 and FIG. 14 shows the flow ofthe processing. As described above, the privately copied contentsinformation is the contents information which is encrypted and whichdoes not contain the digital signature for certifying that it is theofficially copied contents information in the digital licenseinformation.

[0093] Referring now to the flowchart of FIG. 14, the privately copiedcontents reproduction section 4 of FIG. 10 will be described in detail.

[0094] The privately copied contents information Kc[C] is input in theencrypted contents inputting section 4 b together with the encrypteddigital license information L (step S31). These pieces of information issent to the encrypted contents decrypting section 4 c, where theencrypted digital license information L is decrypted by the processinglater described in detail (step S32), and the encrypted contentsinformation Kc[C] is decrypted using the contents key Kc contained inthe digital license information. In addition, from the digital licenseinformation, the utilization condition U is extracted (steps S33-S35).

[0095] The control section 4 a checks the utilization condition U (stepS36), and if it is determined inapplicable, it outputs the error andends the processing (step S42). If it is determined applicable, thecontrol section 4 a determines whether the conditions stated in theutilization condition U deviate from the range (upper limit) permittedto the privately copied contents information or not. This is to copewith tampering etc. of the application conditions, and if it deviates,the control section 4 a sets the condition to the upper limit value andadvances to step S37, or outputs the error to end the processing (stepS42). By doing this, it is able to cope with forgery of licenseinformation as a system.

[0096] The control section 4 a feeds the decrypted contents informationC to the data decompressing section 4 d, decompresses the compressiondata such as MPEG data, etc., and outputs the digital contentsinformation Cd (step S37). After the digital contents information Cd isconverted from the digital signal to the analog signal by the D/Aconverting section 4 e (step S38), the analog license informationdetecting section 4 f detects the analog license information embedded inthe contents information (step S39). The control section 4 a determineswhether the contents information is privately copied contentsinformation or not by referring to the copy information in the analoglicense information (step S40). If it is not the privately copiedcontents information, the control section outputs the error and ends atthe moment (step S43). If it is the privately copied contentsinformation, it is D/A converted by the D/A converting section 4 e andthe analog contents information Ca is outputted via the analog outputsection 4 g (step S41). By the way, even if the digital outputinstruction is provided, the digital output is not carried out.

[0097]FIG. 11 shows the configuration diagram of the officially copiedcontents reproduction section 5 of FIG. 8 and FIG. 15 shows the flow ofthe processing. As described above, the officially copied contentsinformation is the contents information which is encrypted and whichcontain the digital signature for certifying that it is the officiallycopied contents information in the digital license information.

[0098] Referring now to the flowchart of FIG. 15, the officially copiedcontents reproduction section 5 of FIG. 11 will be described in detail.

[0099] The officially copied contents information Kc[C] is input in theencrypted contents inputting section 5 b together with the encrypteddigital license information L (step S51). These pieces of information issent to the encrypted contents decrypting section 5 c, where theencrypted digital license information L is verified whether the digitalsignature is added to the encrypted digital license information by theprocessing later described in detail, and if it is added, theinformation is verified for the officially copied contents informationby verifying the digital signature using the digital signatureverification key (steps S52-S53). If the digital signature is not addedin step S52, or if the digital signature is not verified in step S53,the error is outputted and processing is ended (steps S64-S65).

[0100] If the digital signature is able to be verified at step S53, theencrypted digital license information is decrypted by the processinglater described in detail (step S54) and the encrypted contentsinformation is decrypted using the contents key Kc included in thedigital license information. In addition, the utilization condition U isextracted from the digital license information (steps S55-S57).

[0101] The control section 5 a checks the utilization condition U (stepS58), and if it is determined inapplicable, it outputs the error andends the processing (step S66). If it is determined applicable, thecontrol section 5 a determines whether the conditions stated in theutilization condition deviate from the range (upper limit) permitted tothe privately copied contents information or not. If it deviates, thecontrol section sets the condition to the upper limit value and advancesto step S59, or outputs the error to end the processing. By doing this,it is able to cope with forgery of license information as a system.

[0102] The control section 5 a feeds the decrypted contents informationC to the data decompressing section 5 d, decompresses the compressiondata such as MPEG data, etc., and outputs the digital contentsinformation Cd (step S59). After the digital contents information Cd isD/A converted by the D/A converting section 5 e (step S60), the analoglicense information detecting section 5 f detects the analog licenseinformation embedded in the contents information. The control section 5a determines whether the contents information is officially copiedcontents information or not by referring to the copy information in theanalog license information (step S61). If it is not the officiallycopied contents information, the control section outputs the error andends at the moment (step S67). If it is the officially copied contentsinformation, when the digital output instruction is provided (step S62),the digital contents information Cd is D/A converted via the digitaloutputting section 5 i (step S68), and if not, the digital contentsinformation Cd is D/A converted by the D/A converting section 5 e andthe analog contents information Ca is outputted via the analog outputsection 5 g (step S63).

[0103] Next description is made on the encrypted contents decryptingsections 4 c, 5 c contained in the privately copied contentsreproduction section 4 (FIG. 10) and the officially copied contentsreproduction section 5 (FIG. 11). This configuration section exists inthe privately copied contents reproduction section 4 and officiallycopied contents reproduction section 5, and both have similarconfigurations. First, discussion will be made on the encrypted contentsdecrypting section 5 c of the officially copied contents reproductionsection 5, and with respect to the encrypted contents decrypting section4 c of the privately copied contents reproduction section 4, thedifference from the encrypted contents decrypting section 5 c only willbe discussed.

[0104]FIG. 16 shows a configuration example of the encrypted contentsdecrypting section 5 c and FIG. 18 shows the flow of the processing.Referring now to the flowchart of FIG. 18, the encrypted contentsdecrypting section 5 c is described.

[0105] When the decrypted contents information Kc[C] and decrypteddigital license information L are inputted to the encrypted licensedecrypting section 5 c (step S71), at the encrypted license decryptingsection 5 c, the media ID, which is the identifier of media M in whichthe contents information is recorded is acquired through the media IDextracting section (in the case of the officially copied contentsreproduction section 5, through media ID extracting section 5 h and inthe case of the privately copied contents reproduction section 4,through media ID extracting section 4 h) (step S72). Using the media ID,a license decrypting key w is prepared by the section later discussed indetail, and the decrypted digital license information is outputted (stepS73).

[0106] Of the digital license information shown in FIG. 1, thecertificator is calculated from the contents key Kc and the contentsutilization condition U (step S75). The certificator should be such avalue that an output of one-directional function to which theinformation concatenating, for example, the contents key with thecontents utilization condition are inputted.

[0107] The role of the certificator in this event is to detect the errorso that the erroneous contents decryption key or utilization conditiondue to the erroneous license key w is not outputted. Generation of thecertificator is achieved by the one-directional function. Theone-directional function is able to be achieved by the hash function orencryption function, and is the function which is unable to estimate theinput value from the output value.

[0108] The MAC collating section 102 collates the certificatorcalculated from the output of the encryption license decrypting section101 with the certificator MAC originally contained in the digitallicense information of FIG. 1 also outputted from the encryption licensedecrypting section 101 (step S76), determines that the outputtedcontents decryption key Kc is reliable if they coincide (step S77), andusing this Kc, decrypts the encrypted contents information by thecontents decrypting section 103 (step S78). If the certificators do notcoincide, the error is outputted to end the processing (step S81).

[0109] When the certificators are collated and the encrypted contentsinformation is decrypted, the contents information C and the utilizationcondition U are outputted, and processing of the encrypted contentsdecrypting section is ended (step S79).

[0110] Next discussion is made in detail on the encrypted licensedecrypting section 101, which is a component element of the encryptedcontents decrypting section 5 c. The configuration is shown in FIG. 17and the flow of the processing is shown in FIG. 19.

[0111] Referring now to the flowchart shown in FIG. 19, the encryptedlicense decrypting section 101 is described.

[0112] When the encrypted digital license information L is inputted(step S91), first, at the digital signature detecting section 101 a,detection of the digital signature takes place (step S92). That is, thedigital signature is detected by the use of the data in the licenseheader, for example, using the following formula, the head address ofthe digital signature is calculated.Head  address  of  the  digital  signature = head  address  of  the  encrypted  digital  license  information   + (license  header  length + contents  key  length + length  of  contents  utilization  condition   + length  of  certificator)

[0113] The digital signature verification key acquiring section 101 bacquires the fixed-length digital signature header from the head addressof this digital signature (see FIGS. 6 and 7), and based on the totallength of the digital signature stated in it, kind of signature, andnumber of signature detection key, the signature algorithm and theverification key are specified. When the kind of signature and thenumber of signature verification key are acquired, based on this, thedigital signature verification key storing section 101 f is searched,and the kind of the signature, signature algorithm corresponding to thenumber of the signature verification key, and the verification key areacquired (step S94).

[0114] When the digital signature (header) is unable to be detected, theerror is outputted and processing is ended (steps S93, S101).

[0115] When the digital signature is detected, then, the digitalsignature verifying section 101 c verifies the detected digitalsignature by the use of the signature algorithm specified by the digitalsignature header and the signature verification key of the signatureverification key number (step S95).

[0116] The digital signature here is assumed to be the signature by thepublic key cryptosystem. That is, the authorized server or distributorwith the signature creation key (secret key) only is able to generatethe license file that corresponds to the officially copied contentsinformation. Even if any one other than those possesses a reproductiondevice, what exists in the reproduction device is the signatureverification key (public key) only. Because the difficulty to find thesecret key from the public key guarantees the safety of the public keycryptosystem, the use of the sufficiently safe public key cryptosystemcan prevent the creation of the digital signature corresponding to thethird party who does not know the secret key. This guides to the notionin that the party that can generate the license corresponding to theofficially copied contents information is the authorized distributor.However, on the other hand, the public key cryptosystem is not alwayssafe because of the development of the attack method (decipheringmethod). In view of this, it is constructed to specify and change thesignature algorithm and signature verification key as required in theheader of the digital signature.

[0117] When the signature verification result is determined to be NG inthe digital signature verifying section 101 c, the error is outputted(steps S96, S102). Otherwise, the license key generating section 101 dacquires the media ID (MID) of the media in which the encrypted contentsinformation is recorded (step S97), and using the function “f” secretlyheld in the reproduction device, the license key w dependent on themedia is obtained from the equation:

w=f(MID)

[0118] (step S98).

[0119] This is a mechanism for preventing decryption of the encrypteddigital license information and as a result disabling the decryption ofthe contents information because only the license key w dependent on themedia is obtained when the contents information is transferred to othermedia, that is, when the contents information is copied.

[0120] In this way, whether it is the privately copied contentsinformation or officially copied contents information, for copying, theencrypted digital license information must be re-generated, but sincethe device that can achieve this is a proper recording device that knowsthe function “f”, restriction to the number of copies is definitelycarried out, and the unjust use is thereby prevented. In this sense, itis desirable that the hardware or firmware that realizes the function“f” exists in tamper-proof LSI.

[0121] The license decrypting section 101 e decrypts the encrypteddigital license information using the license key w generated in thisway (step S99), obtains and outputs the digital license information Lo(step S100).

[0122] This completes description of the encrypted contents decryptingsection 5 c of the officially copied contents decrypting section 5 andthe encrypted license decrypting section 101 which is the componentelement. The encrypted license decrypting section 101 of the encryptedcontents decrypting section 4 c of the privately copied contentsreproduction section 4, and the digital signature detecting section 101c of FIG. 17, digital signature verification key acquisition section 101b, digital signature verification key storing section 101 f, and digitalsignature verification section 101 c are not required as configurationand processing of these is not required.

[0123] Next description is given on several variations of the contentsreproduction device discussed above.

[0124] First of all, in the overall configuration of FIG. 8, a case inwhich the reproduction section that is different in accordance with thetype of contents information is installed completely independently isshown, but this is not always required. Practically, reproductionprocessing varies in accordance with the type of the license file, butas described above, there are many parts in which processing is similar.Consequently, bringing the parts which carry out the same processing toone circuit can reduce the circuit scale. Conversely, even in thecircuit which has the same functions, changing specifications for eachreproduction section can improve the safety. For example, using adifferent algorithm for each kind of contents information in the datadecompressing sections 4 d, 5 d, and 6 f, respectively, of eachreproduction section makes it difficult to falsify the kind of contentsinformation by tampering the license information.

[0125] A configuration of the reproduction device that does not have theoriginal contents reproduction section 6 is able to be considered. Insuch event, the original contents information is unable to be reproducedon the reproduction device side, and the contents information is limitedto two kinds: officially copied contents information and privatelycopied contents information. By doing this, there is a problem in thatthe self-made contents information is regarded as the privately copiedcontents information, but on the other hand, there can be avoided theproblem of recording and unconditionally reproducing non-self-madecontents information such as dubbing of contents information from radioor TV.

[0126] With respect to the digital signature, in addition to adding thelicense information as in the case of FIG. 1, a form to carry out doubleencryption and affix the signature may be accepted, in which encryptionis carried out by the signature creation key Ks after encryption by thelicense key w is carried out. The determination whether decryption isproperly carried out or not is definitely made by the certificator MACso that decryption is unable to be properly carried out even in theconfiguration as shown in FIG. 20, or whether the contents informationis decrypted by different signature creation key or with a correctsignature verification key. By doing this, the data size of the digitalsignature can be reduced.

[0127] According to the first embodiment, it is possible not only tocontrol the use of encrypted contents information by the licenseinformation corresponding to the encrypted contents information but alsoto provide a system for discriminating the officially copied contentsinformation from privately copied contents information by the presenceof the digital signature, for changing the reproduction form of thecontents information based on the discrimination results, and forreproducing in more advantageous mode for the officially copied contentsinformation than the privately copied contents information by pastingsignature with the secret key of the public key cryptosystem which onlythe contents selling server authorized to sell the contents informationknows to the license information corresponding to the encrypted contentsinformation, which is the officially copied contents information.Consequently, it is possible to prevent expansion of personal use and toprotect the copyright and the contents provider while permitting theprivately copied contents information. In addition, when the contentsinformation is unjustly transferred to another recording medium, thatis, copied, since the license information is dependent on the recordingmedium, for example, the license information is unable to be decrypted,and as a result, the contents information is unable to be decrypted.Consequently, whether it is the privately copied contents information orthe officially copied contents information, for the copy, the licenseinformation must be re-generated, and it is only the just recordingdevice which knows, for example, the function “f” that can re-generatethe license information, and the restriction to the number of copies isable to be definitely exercised, and thereby the unjust use can beprevented.

[0128] Other embodiments of the information recording and reproducingdevice according to the present invention will be described. The sameportions as those of the first embodiment will be indicated in the samereference numerals and their detailed description will be omitted.

[0129] Second Embodiment

[0130] The reproduction device according to the first embodimentpreviously described premises to have plural kinds of contentsinformation, and requires a recording device for generating the pluralkinds of contents information, and as the second embodiment, thecontents recording device is described. The present embodiment may beintegrated with the reproduction device of the first embodiment to forma contents recording/reproduction device.

[0131] The overall configuration of the contents recording devicerelated to the present embodiment is shown in FIG. 21, and theprocessing flow is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 24. Referring now tothe flowchart of FIG. 24, the contents recording device of FIG. 21 isdescribed.

[0132] To the contents input section 202, the encrypted contentsinformation (Kc[C]) or non-encrypted contents information C is inputtogether with the encrypted digital license information L as thecontents information (step S201).

[0133] The overall control section 201 determines the kind of thecontents information referring to the license header of the encrypteddigital license information (steps S202, S204, S206). If the contentsinformation is the officially copied contents information (Yes of stepS202), the overall control section 201 sends these data to the privatelycopied contents generating section 204 and advances to the privatelycopied contents creation processing (step S203).

[0134] If the contents information is the privately copied contentsinformation (Yes of step S204), the overall control section 201 sendsthese data to the privately copied contents generating section 204 andadvances to the privately copied contents creation processing (step205).

[0135] If the contents information is the original contents information(Yes of step S206), the overall control section 201 sends these data tothe original contents generating section 205, and begins originalcontents generating processing (step S207).

[0136] By changing the recording technique in accordance with the kindof contents information as described above and providing the environmentin which at most the privately copied contents information only isgenerated in the recording device, the officially copied contentsinformation put on the formal market and the privately copied contentsinformation is differentiated, and the value of the officially copiedcontents information is increased relatively, thereby contributing tothe expansion of the market of the officially copied contentsinformation.

[0137] Next, the privately copied contents generating section 204 of thecontents recording device of FIG. 21 is described in detail. FIG. 22shows a configuration example of the privately copied contentsgenerating section 204 and FIGS. 25 and 26 show a flow of theprocessing.

[0138] Referring now to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 25 and 26, theprivately copied contents generating section 204 is described.

[0139] When the privately copied contents information is recorded(copied), first of all, the encrypted contents information Kc[C], theencrypted digital license information L, and copy form information Q areinput from the contents input section 204 b, and processing begins (stepS211).

[0140] The copy form information Q has a structure shown in FIG. 30.That is, in the copy form information Q, the category of contentsinformation after the copy (category of copied contents information) andutilization condition of the copied contents information (utilizationcondition information) are stated.

[0141] Now, the utilization condition information has a structure shownin FIG. 31, comprises a digital output flag Fe, effective dateinformation, effective number of use information, and number of copyrestricting information, which are information to be embedded in theinformation stated in the digital license information and analog licenseinformation, respectively.

[0142] As will be clear in the following processing, these pieces ofinformation is not always reflected as they are in accordance with thecategory of the contents information after copy. As described later,each upper limit value of the utilization condition is specified inaccordance with the category of contents information after copy asdiscussed later, and it is not allowed to set the utilization conditionexceeding the upper limit value. By doing this, privately copiedcontents information, officially copied contents information, andoriginal contents information is discriminated for the use, and a systemsuited for profits of the contents provide is materialized.

[0143] Now, the inputted encrypted contents information Kc[C] and theencrypted digital licensing information L, and copy form information Qare sent tot he control section 204 a, and the encrypted contentsinformation Kc[L] and the encrypted digital license information L aresent to the contents decrypting section 204 e.

[0144] At the contents decoding section 204 e, same as contentsreproduction of the contents reproduction device according to the firstembodiment, the encrypted contents information is decrypted. That is,the media ID (MID) is acquired from the media M on the source sidethrough the media ID acquiring section 206 (step S212), and using themedia ID and hidden function “f”, a license key w is generated at stepS213 from a relational formula of w=f(MID) and the encrypted digitallicense information L is decrypted (step S214). From the decrypteddigital license information, the contents decryption key Kc is extracted(step S215). In addition, from the digital license information, acertificator is extracted, and by verifying the certificator, thecontents decryption key Kc is checked for freedom of error (step S216).And using the contents decryption key Kc, the encrypted contentsinformation is decrypted, and the contents information C is obtained(step S218).

[0145] The contents information C decrypted by the contents decryptingsection 204 e is sent to the analog license detection/modifying section204 f via the control section 204 a. Here, first of all, the contentsinformation C is sent to the data decompressing section 204 g, wherecompression of the contents information C is depressed (step S219), andthe depressed digital contents information C is D/A converted (stepS220), and the analog contents information Ca is obtained. From thisanalog contents information Ca, the analog license information isextracted (step S221), and the kind of the contents information isspecified by the copy information of the analog license information.

[0146] If the contents information of the source is the officiallycopied contents information (step S222), the copy information of theanalog license information as shown in FIG. 5 is modified as theprivately copied contents information (step S226), and, similarly, thenumber of copy restriction information of the analog license informationis set to the upper limit value permitted to the privately copiedcontents information (step S227).

[0147] On the other hand, if the contents information of the source isthe privately copied contents information (step S223), the number ofcopy restriction information of the analog license information issubtracted by one (step S224).

[0148] If the contents information of the source is neither theofficially copied contents information nor the privately copied contentsinformation, the error is outputted (step S228).

[0149] The analog license information presently recorded is erased andthe analog license information generated in the foregoing processing isembedded in the analog contents information instead (step 225). Further,after it is A/D converted to the digital contents information Cd (stepS229), the contents information is sent to the data compressing section204 h and undergoes the compression processing (step S230), and newcontents information C is obtained.

[0150] The new contents information C is sent to the contents encryptingsection 204 d together with the contents encryption key Kc from theanalog license information detecting/modifying section 204 f via thecontrol section 204 a.

[0151] At the contents encrypting section 204 d, the inputted contentsinformation C is encrypted by the inputted contents decrypting key, andthe decrypted contents information Kc[C] is obtained (step S231).

[0152] On the other hand, the control 204 a refers to the digital outputflag, effective date information, and number of effective userestriction stated in the utilization condition information of the copyform information Q, and make sure these conditions do not deviate fromthe range of the privately copied contents information. If it deviates,the contents utilization condition U is generated in such a manner thatit can be contained in the digital license information in the rangeauthorized in the privately copied contents information (step S232).

[0153] Next, the certificator MAC is calculated from the contentsdecryption key Kc and the contents utilization condition U (step S233).The computation method is the same as the computation carried out forconfirming the certificator by the contents reproduction device of thefirst embodiment previously discussed.

[0154] Furthermore, to the part of the copy information of the licenseheader, the information of the privately copied contents and others arecalculated and stored, and the digital license information of thecontents are completed.

[0155] Then, for encryption of the digital license information, from thetarget side (recording side) media M′, the media ID (MID) is acquiredthrough the media ID acquiring section 206 (step S235). From theacquired media ID (MID), the license key w is generated at step S236 by

w=f(MID)

[0156] This creation system is the same as the creation system of thelicense key generated for the encrypted digital license information Ldiscussed for the processing of the contents decrypting section 204 epreviously discussed. However, since MID differs from the case of theformer, a different license key is generated.

[0157] By changing the data of the encrypted digital license informationbefore and after the copy in this way, illegal copy is able to beprevented (even when the data is simply copied to other medium, it isunable to be decrypted).

[0158] Using the license key w obtained in step S236, the digitallicense information Lo is encrypted and the encrypted digital licenseinformation L is obtained (step S237).

[0159] With the foregoing, all the data to be recorded are completed,and the encrypted contents information Kc[C] and encrypted digitallicense information L are recorded in the target-side media M′ via thecontents recording section 208 and the license recording section 207,respectively (steps S238-S239).

[0160] Next, the original contents generating section 205 in thecontents recording device of FIG. 21 is described in detail. FIG. 23shows the configuration of the original contents generating section 205and FIGS. 27 to 29 shows the flow of the processing.

[0161] Referring now to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 27 to 29, theoriginal contents generating section 205 of FIG. 23 is described.

[0162] When the original contents information is copied, first of all,the contents information C and copy form information Q are input fromthe contents input section 205 b and processing begins (step S241).

[0163] The contents information C is sent to the analog licenseinformation detecting/modifying section 205 d via the control section205 a, and from here, by processing of the data decompressing section205 g, the contents information is depressed (step S242).

[0164] The depressed digital contents information Cd is subject to D/Aconversion, and the analog license information is detected (stepsS243-S234). Here, if it is the original contents information, it is notdetected, but if part of the data is tampered and the contentsinformation is input by pretending to be the original contentsinformation, the error is outputted upon detection of the analog licenseinformation and the processing is ended (steps S245-S246).

[0165] If the source is the original contents information, whether it iscopied as the original contents information or as the privately copiedcontents information is determined by the category of copy informationof the copy form information Q (step S247).

[0166] Because for the original contents information, the contents withthe copyright to users themselves as defined previously, the contentsinformation is able to be copied into the non-encrypted originalcontents information or privately copied contents information.Naturally, copying the contents as the original contents enablesreproduction under more advantageous conditions but if the author him orherself wants to set some kind of restriction to the utilization form inthe copied contents information, the object is fulfilled by recording itas privately copied contents information.

[0167] If the contents information should be copied as the privatelycopied contents information, it is necessary to advance to step S248 andrecord the analog license information in the contents information.Consequently, the analog license information is generated, the copyinformation is designated as the privately copied contents information,the number of copy restriction is set not to exceed the upper limitvalue of the number of copies permitted in the number of copyrestriction information contained in the utilization form information Q,the analog license information is embedded to contents information C,A/D converted, and then, further compressed by the data compressingsection 205 h, and a new contents information C is obtained (steps S248to S252).

[0168] On the other hand, when the contents information is copied as theoriginal contents information, it is necessary to advance from step S247to step S251, A/D convert without generating the analog licenseinformation (steps S248 to S250), carry out compression processing, andobtain the contents information C (steps S251 to S252).

[0169] The contents information C generated by the above-mentionedprocessing is sent from the analog license informationdetecting/modifying section 205 d to the control section 205 a, and theprocessing procedure is changed whether the contents information iscopied to the privately copied contents information or to the originalcontents information referring to the copy form information Q by thecontrol section 205 a (step S253).

[0170] First of all, when the contents information is copied to theoriginal contents information, encryption is not required, and thelicense generating section 205 c generates the digital licenseinformation and license header only are generated, and the copyinformation in the license header is designated as “original contentsinformation” (step S264), and the digital license information isrecorded in the target-side media via the license recording section 207(step S262). Now, the digital license information in the case of theoriginal contents information is free of any encrypted part because onlythe license header exists, and the license key does not need to begenerated. Because the contents information C does not need to beencrypted, either, it is recorded on the target side media through thecontents recording section 208 as it is (step S263).

[0171] Next discussion is made on processing when the contentsinformation is recorded as the privately copied contents information.When the contents information is recorded as the privately copiedcontents information (step S253), the contents information C isencrypted, and the encrypted digital license information L containingthe contents decryption key Kc corresponding to the contents informationis generated, and recorded in the media. The procedure is describedsequentially.

[0172] The control section 205 a sends the contents information C to thecontents encrypting section 205 e, where an instruction is given to thecontents decryption key generating section 205 f and a contents key Kcis generated (step S254). With the generated contents decryption key Kc,the contents information C is encrypted (step S255), and the encryptedcontents information Kc[C] is obtained. The encrypted contentsinformation Kc[C] is delivered to the contents recording section 208 andrecorded in the target-side media (step S263).

[0173] On the other hand, after the contents decryption key Kc is oncedelivered to the control section 205 a, it is delivered to the licensegenerating section 205 c. At the license generating section 205 c, mediaID (MID) of the target-side media is obtained from the media IDacquiring section 206 (step S256), and by

w=f(MID)

[0174] a license key w is generated (step S257).

[0175] The contents utilization condition U contained in the digitallicense information is determined in the range permitted for theprivately copied contents information referring to the utilizationcondition information of the copy form information Q (step S258).

[0176] Then, from the contents key Kc and the utilization condition U, acertificator MAC is generated (step S259). With this, the digitallicense information Lo is generated (step S260), and using the licensekey w generated previously, the digital license information isencrypted, and the encrypted digital license information L is obtained(step S261).

[0177] The obtained encrypted digital license information L is recordedin the target-side media by the license recording section 207 (stepS262).

[0178] As described above, according to the contents recording device ofthe second embodiment, when the contents information (may be encryptedor may not be encrypted) and the license information (may be encryptedor may not be encrypted) added to the contents information, which isrequired for reproducing said contents information is recording in arecording medium, the category of the contents information input isdetermined, the license information is rewritten based on the determinedcategory and the information dependent on the identifier of therecording medium, the contents information is recorded in the recordingmedium together with the license information. The license informationmay be rewritten based on the utilization condition of the contentsinformation. In rewriting the license information, it is not allowed tobe rewritten into the license information of the officially copiedcontents information. Consequently, only the copy information which canbe only reproduced under the severer restrictions than the sourcecontents information is allowed to be generated, and the officiallycopied contents information put on the formal market and the privatelycopied contents information is differentiated, and the value of theofficially copied contents information is increased relatively, therebycontributing to the expansion of the market of the officially copiedcontents information. In addition, because in the license information,the information dependent on the recording medium is included, whetherit is the privately copied contents information or the officially copiedcontents information, for the copy, the license information must bere-generated, and it is only the just recording device which knows, forexample, the function “f” that can re-generate the license information,and the restriction to the number of copies is able to be definitelyexercised, and thereby the unjust use can be prevented.

[0179] Next description will be made on several modified examples (thirdto sixth embodiment) of the second embodiment.

[0180] Third Embodiment

[0181] When contents information other than the original contentsinformation (particularly officially copied contents information) isgenerated (copied), it is desirable to degrade the contents to a properlevel by the privately copied contents generating section 204. This isbecause the degradation discourages the expectation to copying andpromotes the sales of the officially copied contents information put onthe formal market. In this sense, noise may be added to the contentsinformation in the analog license information detecting/modifyingsection 204 f or the compression ratio in the data compression may beincreased to achieve this scheme. For this purpose, two degradingmethods are able to be assumed: a method for adjusting the compressionratio of the data compressing section 204 h to cause degradation and amethod for increasing the degree of embedding when the analog licenseinformation is embedded to cause degradation in the contentsinformation. Particularly in the latter case, there is an advantage thatthe analog license information is difficult to be peeled.

[0182] Fourth Embodiment

[0183] It is able to design a recording device (or arecording/reproduction device) that does not admit the original contentsinformation as a kind of contents information. The device of such kindis obtained by eliminating the original contents generating section 205in the configuration of, for example, FIG. 21 and in the abovedescription, by eliminating the processing concerning the entry of theoriginal contents information and the copy of the original contentsinformation.

[0184] Conversely, when the entry of the original contents informationis permitted, a method for limiting the input terminals that recognizesthe input as the original contents information is assumed. According tothis method, taking, for example, a mechanism for allowing the voiceinput from the microphone terminal to be recorded as the originalcontents information but the voice input from the radio terminal to berecorded as the privately copied contents information can determine thekind of copy information by the input medium, and even when the copyinformation is not input in the format of the recording device, thevoice not only is able to be recorded but also is able to determineswhether the copy is from the original contents information or not.

[0185] Fifth Embodiment

[0186] The contents reproduction device of the first embodiment and thecontents recording device of the second embodiment have independentmechanisms, respectively, but it is also possible to consider arecording/reproduction device of an integrated form. In such event, itis possible to share the media ID acquiring section, data compressingsection, data decompressing section, etc., which are component elementswith the same functions.

[0187] Sixth Embodiment

[0188] There allowed to exist is a form in which the source contentsinformation to be input is limited to the analog contents informationonly, and copy to the privately copied contents information only isallowed. By doing so, when the digital contents information is recorded,the contents quality degradation is able to result from allowing thecontents information to pass the analog layer once, and degradationequivalent to that of conventional privately copied contents informationis achieved, and the privately copied contents information from theviewpoint of the contents quality is achieved.

[0189] The configuration of such contents recording device is shown inFIG. 32 and the flow of the processing in FIGS. 33 to 34.

[0190] Referring now to the flowchart shown in FIGS. 33 to 34, thecontents recording device of FIG. 32 is described.

[0191] The analog contents information Ca is input from the contentsinputting section 301 (step S301). The input analog contents informationCa is sent to the analog license information detecting/modifying section302, where the analog license information is extracted (step S302) andthe restriction of number of copies contained in the analog licenseinformation is confirmed to be “1” or more (step S303). If it is not “1”or more, further copy is unable to be generated, and the error isoutputted (step S304).

[0192] The cases in which the analog license does not exist or therestriction of number of copies is “1” or more are discussed. If theanalog license information does not exist, the restriction of number ofcopies is set to the upper limit of the privately copied contentsinformation, and if the analog license information exists, therestriction of number of copies is subtracted by one and in either case,the analog license information with the copy information set to theprivately copied contents information is generated, and if the analoglicense information has already existed, after it is removed, the analoglicense information newly generated is embedded in the contentsinformation (steps S305-306).

[0193] The contents information Ca with the analog license informationembedded is sent to the A/D converting section 303 via the overallcontrol section 304, where using the contents decrypting key Kcgenerated by the contents key generating section 309, the contentsinformation C is encrypted and the encrypted contents information Kc[C]is generated (steps S309-S310).

[0194] The contents encrypting section 307 sends the contents decryptionkey Kc to the overall control section 304, while it is also sent to thelicense generating section 306 together with the utilization condition Udetermined by the whole control section 304.

[0195] At the license generating section 306, the certificator MAC isgenerated from the contents decryption key Kc and the utilizationcondition U, and the digital license information Lo is generated. Thegenerated digital license information Lo is sent to the licenseencrypting section 308, where using the license key w generated by thelicense key generating section 310, the digital license information Lois encrypted (steps S11-S314).

[0196] Now, the flow of processing by the license key generating section310 is described. At the license key generating section 310, the mediaID (MID) for recording the encrypted contents information is acquiredvia the media ID acquiring section 312 (step S312) and by the equation

w=f(MID),

[0197] the license key w is generated (step S313).

[0198] Now, the encrypted digital license L is recorded to the mediumvia the license recording section 311 (step S315). Similarly, theencrypted contents information Kc[C] is also recorded (step S316).

[0199] By integrating the reproduction device that does not admit theoriginal contents information with the recording device of the presentembodiment or using them in a pair, a contents recording/reproductiondevice with higher security is able to be realized. That is, when thecontents information other than the recording/reproduction device of thepresent invention is input and recorded, the analog input only isadmitted, and the digital contents information record is restricted tothe privately copied contents information. This means that even in thedigitally recording and reproducing world, since the contentsinformation once passes through the analog contents information,improvement in the quality is unable to be expected from the quality ofthe conventional recording/reproduction system, and this not only servesas a deterrent of copying but also relatively increases the value ofofficially copied contents information and the sales market of theofficially copied contents information is able to be secured moredefinitely.

[0200] Seventh Embodiment

[0201] In the present embodiment, the contents selling device and thecontents purchasing device used for purchasing and reproducing thedigital contents information from other party are described. Here oneembodiment of a mechanism for purchasing and selling the digitalcontents information, for example, via the Internet server or anautomatic vending machine is described.

[0202] First of all, the embodiment of the contents selling device isexplained. The contents selling device means a selling device forgenerating and selling the officially copied contents information inresponse to the purchase request. In the present embodiment, for acontents selling server device, the shopping mall on the Internetmaterialized on the network is assumed.

[0203]FIG. 35 is an overall configuration diagram of the selling server,and FIG. 36 is the configuration diagram of the license generatingsection 403 of FIG. 35.

[0204] First of all, referring to FIGS. 37 and 38 showing the flow ofthe whole processing of the selling server, the selling server isdescribed. The selling server begins operation by receiving the contentspurchase request from the client (step S401). As shown in FIG. 39, thepurchase request information comprises the ID information of the clientwho made a purchase request, contents ID (CID) of the contentsinformation desired to purchase, purchase utilization condition (Uc),media ID (MID) of the recording media for the client to record thecontents information, and the client address.

[0205] When the purchase request information is received, the sellingserver sends this to the overall control section 402, and sends thecontents ID contained in the purchase request information to thecontents searching section 405, searches the contents database (DB) 407,and extracts the contents decryption key Kc and the selling amount P(and depending on the circumstances, encrypted contents informationKc[C]) (step S402).

[0206] Now, for the condition to take out the encrypted contentsinformation Kc[C], for example, the contents ID is expressed with asufficiently large bit number, and if there exists any redundant bit,one bit of the redundant bits may be used as a flag for determiningwhether the encrypted contents information should be transmitted or not.

[0207] Next (or simultaneously with the processing in contents searchingsection 405), the overall control section 402 searches the credit numberof the client from the client database (DB) 408 using the client ID as akey, and the credit is referred with the searched credit number (stepsS403 and S404). If the credit reference result evidences that thepayment is able to be made, the encrypted digital license information isgenerated based on the procedure described in detail as follows, and theencrypted digital license information is outputted to the client address(steps S405 though 407). If as a result of the credit reference, it isevidenced that the payment is unable to be made, the effect is notifiedto the client address. The notice and the output may be made byelectronic mail or when the network is directly connected, the networkconnected may be used.

[0208] Referring now to the flowchart shown in FIG. 38, the processingfor generating the encrypted digital license information by the licensegenerating section 403 of FIG. 36 is described.

[0209] The license generating section 403 receives the entry of themedia ID (MID) extracted from the contents decryption key Kc and thepurchase request information outputted by the contents DB 407 and beginsprocessing (step S411).

[0210] First of all, the license generating section 403 determines theutilization condition U, generates the certificator MAC from thecontents decryption key Kc and the utilization condition U, andgenerates the digital license information Lo (steps S412 and S413).

[0211] Then, by the media ID (MID) input, the license generating sectiongenerates a license key w at step S414 by

w=f(MID)

[0212] The license key generating section 403 c sends the license key wand the digital license information Lo to the control section 403 b, andby the control section 403 b, the license information Lo is encrypted togenerate the encrypted digital license information (steps S415 andS416).

[0213] Further, from the server secret key database (DB) 409, the keyserver secret key Ks and the secret key ID (KID) are extracted (stepS417), the digital signature is affixed to the encrypted digital licenseinformation L with the secret key Ks (step S418), and adding thisinformation, the encrypted license L is generated. The generated digitallicense information L is outputted to complete the processing (stepS419).

[0214] This concludes the description of the contents selling device,that is, the selling server. Next description is made on the mechanismof the contents purchasing device corresponding to the selling. Thecontents purchasing device may be the reproduction device itself, but itis not always the reproduction device itself, but may be any device suchas personal computers, etc. or special-purpose device, to which networkis connected.

[0215]FIG. 40 shows the configuration of the contents purchasing device,and referring now to the flowchart shown in FIGS. 41 to 42, the contentspurchasing device is described.

[0216] To the contents purchasing device, the contents ID of thecontents information to be purchased is input through the contentsselection interface (IF) 501, and sent to the overall control section502 (step S501). The contents selection IF 501 may be of the type toinput the contents ID from the keyboard, or the user may input thecontents ID by searching and specifying the contents information withthe name of singer or composer used as a key by the special-purposesearch software or input software.

[0217] The overall control section 502 receives the contents ID entryand extracts the media ID (MID) from the media which records thecontents information via the media ID extracting section 504 (or whichhas already recorded the contents information) (step S502).

[0218] Then (or simultaneously), from the client information storingsection 505, the client ID (of the purchaser), the client address areextracted (step S503), and based on these pieces of informationextracted, the purchase request information as shown in FIG. 39 istransmitted to the selling server (steps S504-S505).

[0219] In the present embodiment, the client information is stored inthe client information storing section 505, but this section may bechanged to the entry from the outside to carry out the same processing.

[0220] In addition, if the contents ID is transmitted from the contentsselling device to the encrypted license L (if there is no encryptedcontents information on the contents purchasing device side, togetherwith the encrypted contents information Kc[C]) based on the purchaserequest information, the contents selling device records these in themedia from which the media ID is extracted (steps S511-S512).

[0221] This concludes the description on the configuration of thecontents purchasing device and the flow of processing. From theabove-mentioned configuration, it is clear that the contents purchasingdevice is able to be integrated with the contents reproduction device.That is, the configuration of the reproduction device shown in FIG. 8 isfunctionally independent fro the configuration of the selling clientshown in FIG. 40, and a device which incorporates both functions is ableto be configured. Similarly, the same relation holds for with thecontents recording/reproduction device described in the secondembodiment.

[0222] Consequently, it is able to assume a system for integrating thecontents selling device with the contents purchasing device. This is adevice like an automatic vending machine of the contents information,and is able to be realized by using the fee collecting section 404 inthe configuration of the contents selling device of FIG. 35 for thecoin/bill detection/storing device in the automatic vending machine andrecording the generated encrypted license L (and encrypted contentsinformation) to the media via the media recording section 503 in theconfiguration of the contents information purchasing device of FIG. 40.

[0223] By achieving this kind of automatic vending machine, the clientis able to bring the media to the automatic vending machine and purchasethe contents information and the license. Needless to say, it ispossible to configure an automatic vending machine with the contentspurchasing device only. In such event, the device must be connected tothe contents selling device via telephone line, etc.

[0224] As described above, according to the present invention, thecontents information copied by the properly authorized party (officiallycopied contents information) is able to be distributed in the moreadvantageous form than the contents information copied without properauthorization (privately copied contents information). As a result, thedemand of officially copied contents information is increased, and theinformation distribution mechanism suited for interests of the contentsprovider, contents user, and electronic equipment provider can beprovided.

[0225] Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur tothose skilled in the art. Therefore, the present invention in itsbroader aspects is not limited to the specific details, representativedevices, and illustrated examples shown and described herein.Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing fromthe spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by theappended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information reproduction device comprising: acontents inputting section configured to receive contents informationand license information including first information indicating whetherthe contents information is officially copied contents information orprivately copied contents information; a determining section configuredto determine whether the contents information is the officially copiedcontents information or the privately copied contents information basedon the first information of the license information; and a reproducingsection configured to reproduce the contents information based on aresult of determination by said determining section.
 2. The informationreproduction device according to claim 1, wherein said reproducingsection can reproduce the officially copied contents information under ahigh quality digital reproduction, a low quality digital reproduction,and an analog reproduction and cannot reproduce the privately copiedcontents information under the high quality digital reproduction.
 3. Theinformation reproducing device according to claim 1, wherein said firstinformation includes verification information for verifying theofficially copied contents information, and said determining sectiondetermines whether the contents information is the officially copiedcontents information or the privately copied contents information basedon the verification information.
 4. The information reproduction deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein said license information includesutilization condition information including effective date informationand effective number of times information, the utilization conditioninformation for the privately copied contents information beingrestricted more than the utilization condition information for theofficially copied contents information, and said reproducing sectionreproduces the contents information based on the utilization conditioninformation.
 5. The information reproduction device according to claim1, wherein said license information is encrypted by key informationgenerated based on information dependent on a recording medium in whichthe contents information is recorded.
 6. The information reproductiondevice according to claim 1, wherein said license information includessecond information indicating whether the contents information isoriginal contents information or not, said determining sectiondetermines whether the contents information is the original contentsinformation or not based on the second information of the licenseinformation; and said reproducing section reproduces the originalcontents information in a same manner as the officially copied contentsinformation.
 7. An information recording device comprising: a contentsinputting section configured to receive contents information and licenseinformation including first information indicating whether the contentsinformation is officially copied contents information or privatelycopied contents information; a determining section configured todetermine whether the contents information is the officially copiedcontents information or the privately copied contents information basedon the first information of the license information; an updating sectionconfigured to update the license information of the officially copiedcontents information by changing the license information to licenseinformation indicating the privately copied contents information andincluding information dependent on an identifier of a predeterminedrecording medium, and a recording section configured to record thecontents information and the license information updated by saidupdating section in the predetermined recording medium.
 8. Theinformation recording device according to claim 7, wherein said licenseinformation includes verification information for verifying theofficially copied contents information, and said determining sectiondetermines whether the contents information is the officially copiedcontents information or the privately copied contents information basedon the verification information.
 9. The information recording deviceaccording to claim 7, wherein said license information includesutilization condition information including effective date informationand effective number of times information, the utilization conditioninformation for the privately copied contents information beingrestricted more than the utilization condition information for theofficially copied contents information.
 10. An information recordingdevice comprising: a contents inputting section configured to receiveanalog contents information which is not compressed and encrypted, agenerating section configured to generate license information indicatingprivately copied contents information and encrypting the licenseinformation by identifier information of a predetermined recordingmedium, and a recording section configured to record the analog contentsinformation and the license information in the predetermined recordingmedium.
 11. A method of generating license information attached toencrypted digital contents information and indicating whether thedigital contents information is officially copied contents informationor privately copied contents information, comprising: encryptingencryption key information by information dependent on a predeterminedrecording medium; and performing a digital signature processing to anencrypted the encryption key information if the digital contentsinformation is the officially copied contents information.
 12. Themethod according to claim 11, further comprising: encrypting utilizationcondition information including effective date information and effectivenumber of times information by the information dependent on thepredetermined recording medium.
 13. An information reproduction methodcomprising: receiving contents information and license informationincluding information indicating whether the contents information isofficially copied contents information or not; determining whether thecontents information is the officially copied contents information ornot based on the license information; and reproducing the contentsinformation based on a result of determination by said determining, theofficially copied contents information being able to be reproduced undera high quality digital reproduction, a low quality digital reproduction,and an analog reproduction and non-officially copied contentsinformation being enable to be reproduced under the high quality digitalreproduction.
 14. An information copying method comprising: receiving,from a first recording medium, contents information and licenseinformation indicating whether the contents information is officiallycopied contents information, privately copied contents information, oranalog contents information and being encrypted by information dependenton the first recording medium; decrypting the license information;determining whether the contents information is officially copiedcontents information, privately copied contents information, or analogcontents information; rewriting the license information of theofficially copied contents information to license information indicatingone of the officially copied contents information, privately copiedcontents information, and analog contents information; rewriting thelicense information of the privately copied contents information tolicense information indicating one of the privately copied contentsinformation and analog contents information, rewriting the licenseinformation of the analog contents information to license informationindicating one of the officially copied contents information, privatelycopied contents information, and analog contents information; encryptingrewritten license information by information dependent on a secondrecording medium; and recording a copy of received contents informationand corresponding license information in the second recording medium.15. An information selling system comprising: a server configured tostore digital contents information; and a client configured to requestthe server of purchasing the digital contents information, wherein saidclient sends a purchase request to the server, the request including anidentifier of a desired digital contents information and an identifierof a recording medium in which purchased digital contents information isto be recorded, and said server generates a copy of the desired digitalcontents information, encrypts the copy by the identifier of therecording medium, and sends encrypted copy to the client.